The founder of Wikipedia has thrown his support behind Richard O'Dwyer, a British student who is due to be extradited to the US on copyright charges.

Jimmy Wales, 45, came out in support of Richard O'Dwyer, 24, who faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of charges relating to his website, TVShack.net, which linked to other sites that streamed pirated television programmes.

Mr O'Dwyer's supporters argue that as the site did not host material itself he should not face any charges and should therefore not be extradited.

Mr Wales, in a petition on the Change.org website, said TV Shack was "similar to a search engine".

Mr Wales, who has met Mr O'Dwyer, called on Home Secretary Theresa May to stop the extradition, which was approved by a district judge in January, calling the interactive media and animation student "the human face of the battle between the content industry and the interests of the general public".

"O'Dwyer is not a US citizen, he's lived in the UK all his life, his site was not hosted there, and most of his users were not from the US," he wrote.

"America is trying to prosecute a UK citizen for an alleged crime which took place on UK soil.

"The internet as a whole must not tolerate censorship in response to mere allegations of copyright infringement. As citizens we must stand up for our rights online."

Richard O'Dwyer with his mother, Julia

And writing exclusively in The Guardian, Mr Wales said: "When I met Richard (along with his mother), he struck me as a clean-cut, geeky kid. Still a university student, he is precisely the kind of person one can imagine launching the next big thing on the internet.

"Enthusiastic, with a sharp mind and a quick wit, he reminds me of many great entrepreneurs. He tried to follow the law, and I would argue that he very likely succeeded in doing so."

Mr Wales described the extradition as an "outrage" and argued that the Mr O'Dwyer, from Bolsover in Derbyshire but studying in Sheffield, always did his best to play by the rules, saying that on the few occasions he received requests to remove content from copyright holders, he complied.

"Copyright is an important institution, serving a beneficial moral and economic purpose," Mr Wales wrote.

"But that does not mean that copyright can or should be unlimited.

It is the latest move by Mr Wales into a political arena.

Earlier this year Wikipedia blacked out the English language version of its website in protest at anti-piracy laws being considered by the US government.

Supporters include the film and music industry, which often sees its products sold illegally. They say the legislation is needed to protect intellectual property and jobs.

Richard's mother is thankful for the support

Julia O'Dwyer, Richard's mother, said Mr Wales's intervention was a huge boost to their campaign.

"It is obviously quite significant to have Jimmy Wales's support," she said.

"He didn't do that lightly. He spent a lot of time talking to Richard."

She said Mr O'Dwyer was due to have an appeal heard at the High Court in October or November this year.

Mr O'Dwyer is one of several high-profile cases of Britons being extradited to the US under a treaty signed in 2003, which critics say is unfairly biased against British citizens.

He told The Guardian that he was coping "quite well" with the threat of extradition.

"It does get in the way, it distracts you... if you thought about extradition all day you'd never get any work done. It'd be a horrible mess," he told the newspaper.

"It's quite difficult but I think I'm managing quite well.

"I think about it sometimes during the day, but I try to think about other things that are more important. I don't let their extradition warrant ruin my life.

"Otherwise you'd fail university, just sit in your room all day moaning. They'd be winning if I let it do that."

A Home Office spokesman said: "We have effective, fair and balanced extradition arrangements with the US and other international partners.

"People who have committed serious offences such as murder, rape, other sex crimes and fraud, have been successfully extradited to the UK and convicted.

"It should also be noted that our courts have refused to extradite nine people requested by the US since 2004, while US courts have not refused any of our extradition requests."

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Pictures Of The Day: 25 June 2012

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Security staff lead in the fans for the start of day 1 of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships. (Photo credit: PA)

The order of play board is prepared before the start of day one of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. (Photo credit: PA)

US Diving Trials -Gracia Leydon-Mahoney competes in the women's 10-meter platform final at the U.S. Olympic diving trials, Sunday, June 24, 2012, in Federal Way, Wash. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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Philippines Festival - A Filipino Catholic devotee, who soaked himself in mud and wrapped in mostly banana leaves, walks around a village to beg for candles prior to attending a mass to celebrate the Feast of Saint John The Baptist at Bibiclat village, Aliaga township, Nueva Ecija province in northern Philippines, Sunday, June 24, 2012. Traditionally the Feast of St. John The Baptist is celebrated in this predominantly Roman Catholic nation in Asia by dousing unwary people with water but in this sleepy village of Bibiclat, the residents soak themselves in muddy rice fields and don banana leaves instead. The unique celebration now became a tourist attraction. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

A Rebekah Brooks impersonator is pictured in the stocks, outside the London Dungeon. The London Dungeon asked 500 visitors to its 17th Century Courtroom last week. They were asked to choose from three defendants placed in the dock by the DungeonÂ